Liberty cancels 30m revamp

The newly appointed board of London department store Liberty has cancelled the retailer’s ambitious and expensive 30m refurbishment programme.

The directors describe the plan as “a huge commitment for a group with shareholder’s funds of 57.5m”.

Stewart McColl, chief executive of McColl Landmark, which was carrying out design work for the project, says that after working on the project for 18 months, around 75 per cent of his group’s work had been completed.

“Almost all the working drawings were done, and the design concepts. We were talking about implementation,” he says.

The jewellery department and part of the administration building of the historic site have already been refurbished to McColl designs.

McColl says there is a possibility the consultancy will carry out further work for the store after the new management has completed its review.